The Centre for Economics and Business Research, a think tank, has also downgraded where it thinks house prices will end up. In May, it expected a price drop of 2.3pc in 2023 but has upped that to 3.4pc. The worst of the decline will be concentrated between April and June next year, when values will fall by 5.8pc.
However, by some accounts, these are increasingly optimistic views. Several indicators suggest house prices could fall by as much as 20pc. So how extreme will the downturn really be?